WCR's & RS harness in my R8

I just picked up my R8 that I just had WCR DarkBursts installed
along with RS Guitarworks Historic upgrade kit w/superpots.
The sound difference is of BIBLICAL proportions!! I know alot of you
have done this with either the harness, pickups or both.
I'm here to tell any of you that want to upgrade the sound of your
LP this is the best bang for the buck mod you can do.
My guitar tech, David Collins of Collins Luthiery in Ann Arbor Mi, said in
all the years of working in guitars he has NEVER heard such a difference
with aftermarket products. After calling me he was compelled to call several customers & friends to tell them the tale.
After getting the guitar home I'm just flabergasted ant the tone.
And Isn't that what we're after. I now have the LP for the rest of
my days!!
Thanks to all who have posted great advice here on the GP.
And Last and certainly not least, Jim @ WCR for the best PU's on the
planet and Roy & Scott @ RS for the finest components out there!!
Jim

Cool huh? Just did the same thing to my R7. Also to do is the Pigtail studs, that made a pretty big difference to the acoustic tone. The tailpiece was nearly imperceptible to my ear but a small cost relative to the whole guitar.

Lacking in tone & definition. Really quite weak. My Rossington SG blew it away..Now the R8 blows the Rossington away BIGTIME!! I know it wasn't any of the outboard gear, Amps etc. I run a Soldano SLO100 & Diaz CD100. The stock electronics didn't match the quality of the guitar itself.
The difference is quite stunning:AOK

I put Goodwoods in my 68 Historic with the whole RS pots and harness set up. Now I can't keep Duwayne Allman out of my studio. Very, Very Good. Very Thick and clear, never have used the neck pup as much as now. Matter fact stays on neck most of time. Then start fiddling around with push pull pots and get tonally lost.

Wow. I never thought any of the R8s I've tried lacked tone or definition but I guess that's what makes the world go round, eh? I don't play with as much grind as you (Soldano SLO; I'm assuming you like preamp gain) I don't think though either so maybe that's it.

I always preferred lower output pickups--I like a shimmer in my high end (that almost sounds pornographic) that overwound pickups seem to bleed off. Same with strats. Are the WCRs higher output?

I Have tried all the WCR's and They are ALL GOOD! My Fav's are the Goodwoods with the Fillmores hanging a very Close Second. I Also Reccomend Installing High Quality Tone Caps. My Personal Favs are the Jensen Paper in Oil Caps. .022 for the Neck and .015 For the Bridge. These are very High Quality, and the Clarity of the sound of your Pickups over stock Ceramic Disc Tone Caps mkes a Very Nice difference. Finally I cannot Recomend Highly enough - replacing that Really Crappy Gibson Bridge with a - Tonepros Bridge System. You will Notice increased Sustain and Better Intonation. + it will make changing strings Way Easier. The Tonepros Bridge Locks down with allen screws. It Alows better String Vibration into the body. Your Tones will be Clearer Sounding with Killer Sustain! No routing is Needed. The tonepros system will Fit Right on the existing studs. All you will need to ddo is adjust Intonation. And If you dont Know how to do that, Then Now would be a Good time to Learn.

I have WCR Fillmores in my 2003 R7 which alone turned the guitar from a dead piece of wood into a guitar with life. The guys from RS are regulars on another guitar forum I'm on and most of the members there have also done the RS upgrade when putting in the WCR's. Biblical proportions is a term that comes up quite often when RS and WCR products are installed and reviewed. I'll be doing the RS upgrade soon.

Wow. I never thought any of the R8s I've tried lacked tone or definition but I guess that's what makes the world go round, eh? I don't play with as much grind as you (Soldano SLO; I'm assuming you like preamp gain) I don't think though either so maybe that's it.

I always preferred lower output pickups--I like a shimmer in my high end (that almost sounds pornographic) that overwound pickups seem to bleed off. Same with strats. Are the WCRs higher output?

BTW, I pick up my R8 (I've had and sold one before ) next Thursday.

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The tone I prefer is a "Warren Haynes, Duane Allman,Derek Trucks" combination. I use the Diaz More than the SLO. It's a tone monster and with this mod the voice is so "musical" it's staggering. The WCR's are not a hot pickup. My tech, Dave put a meter to them and there was very little difference in output between the WCR's and the stock Gibsons.
They sound a little louder BUT I think this is due to the improvement in clarity. ZERO bleed and I mean ZERO!!
WCR's are handwound, go to their site for great tech info.http://www.crcoils.com/New_PIckups/new_pickups.html
Think of it as the difference you hear when you stand behind a amp, then in front of it. Another thing the Gibsons PU's did, and do on some of my other Gibson guitars, is when you play runs and bend on the b & high e
the sound can be overly harsh (kind of makes you wince).
This is now gone with this set up. Smooth as glass.
I've replaced PU's on many a guitar in my 30+ years of playing and NOTHING has ever come close to the magnitude of improvement of this mod. I now plan on putting WCR's in at least 3 other of my Custom Shop Gibsons.

Wow, sounds great but damn if I don't want to throw another $3-400 into a Historic Les Paul. I've got a '69 Strat to part together!

And an Electrosonic amp to have built!

I'm going to just pretend that this thread never existed...

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FWIW the Darkbursts can be had for $260 new, shipped. Considering the cost of the guitar it's well worth it.

Another thing to consider is the BB pros can fetch like $150 on eBay, so if you do turn around and sell those it's an unbelievable bang for the buck.

That said, I have seen comments from folks who prefer the BB Pros over everything else they tried. I picked up a used DB pair on TGP for $210. So if you take the chance the resale holds up decently enough.

Jim is shipping my Dark Bursts today or tomorrow, and I've got an RS pre-wired kit with the Super Pots and Push-pull for the tone controls for single coils. It's all going in my new Les Paul Supreme. After hearing the great results above, I'm even more excited to see how it all works for my guitar. It should be done by the weekend.

I have the Goodwood bridge in my LP and she can do it all from jazz cleans to modern metal in an instant and all with stunny clarity and smoothness! E#verytime I try something else, I come back to the boutique pickups.

I have the Goodwood bridge in my LP and she can do it all from jazz cleans to modern metal in an instant and all with stunny clarity and smoothness! E#verytime I try something else, I come back to the boutique pickups.

Which RS kit do you have?

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I used the Historic Upgrade Kit with the new "Superpots"
Infact I just ordered another one along with a "Complete Premium Strat Electronics Upgrade Kit" for my SRV Strat.
I'm going to put a set of WCR SR's in the SRV and either the Fillmore or Crossroads set in my Rossington SG.